Using heat for hair styling is often the easy option that we opt for each day but we also know it’s not the healthiest for our hair. It’s a good idea to give your hair a few days off the heat each week, you’ll find it easier to style if you choose the freshly washed days.
It’s also good to get your practise in the winter for easy summer hairstyles where you’ll be too hot to blast your hair with the hair dryer. Here are three easy looks that you can experiment with at home until they work for you.
Luxurious curls
The easiest option to style your hair without heat is to try and achieve effortless tousles and curls. After you’ve washed your hair, add a little product such as texturizing salt spray or some styling mousse. Rather than trying to towel dry your hair, hairstylist Lee Stafford says we should gently “press and twist“ hair to preserve curls and provide body. “Simply take your towel and press and twist the hair rather than roughly rubbing it back and forth,“ he says, “vigorously rubbing the hair to dry it will push the hair cuticles upwards which creates frizz.“
Fishtail braid
If you haven’t mastered the fishtail braid yet then there’s a really easy version to follow, here. With freshly washed hair you can keep the plait in all day and then unravel to reveal luxurious curls to rock at night. As this is quite a bohemian look it’s best suited to a more casual outfit, such as a floral dress or a denim shirt. If you’re struggling to achieve this style due to the length of your hair you could fix in some remy extensions to provide some extra thickness and length to experiment with.
Straight and sleek
If straight is your style and you want to keep it that way then there are ways to create straight and luxurious hair without using straightening irons, unless of course you have extremely curly natural hair. ELLE recommends to begin the process in the shower with a professional shampoo and conditioner for straight hair, then, using an ultra absorbent towel attempt to wick out most of the moisture from your hair and keep brushing it until it’s dry.
You can finish off with some hair oil through the ends to smooth things out. If you wash your hair before bed then you could try the hair technique called Toca. To achieve Toca, you just brush and part your hair where you would usually wear it. Then, you essentially just twist your hair around your head in a wrap keeping it as flat and neat as possible and secure with pins or a headscarf for more comfort while sleeping.
